The Beer Thread

[Miulang]

Re: The Beer Thread

Sounds pretty good. "Chinaman's Sombrero" sounds kinda' weird though. Gotta' give an "A" for creativity though!

Actually, I like the sound of simply "Chinaman's Hat" better...

"I'll have the Maui Mahi Tacos with side of Taro Chips and Pineapple Salsa, along with a Chinaman's Hat (Corona capped with 2 Li Hing Mui Seeds).

Man, that sounds REAL ONO right about now (it's getting close to dinner, Hawaii time)!

Um, "Chinaman" is a derogatory term to the Chinese, if you want to be PC. Wolfgang Puck got into hot water for having pictures of "coolies" hanging on the walls of one of his restaurants. But I suppose there aren't too many Chinese in the Chicago area...Why not call it "Corona Sour" instead?
Miulang

[MakaP]

Re: The Beer Thread

Just out of curisoity, i wasnt aware this term is derogitory...if your chinese, if your a man, then why cant you be a chinaman? Im Japanese, feel free to call me a Japaneseman anyday! lol - anyways im sure theres a reason for the chinaman thing that originated form sumthin sumone somewhere...

[Miulang]

Re: The Beer Thread

Here's a thread from an older Hawaii Threads question about whether anyone found the name "Chinaman's Hat" offensive.

Chinaman's Hat is a nickname for Mokoli'i Island. Geologically, it does somewhat resemble a straw hat used by the Chinese, so it would make sense to refer to it by that name, maybe. If you know early Hawai'i history, you know that the Chinese at one point were imported to the islands as laborers for the sugar barons. It was commonplace for the white supervisors to call their employees "Chinaman", and not out of respect, either. If you respect the kanaka maoli, you will call "Chinaman's Hat" Mokoli'i, which is its true name.

But a beer concoction that has no resemblance whatsoever to a Chinese straw hat doesn't mean much, does it? Why not call it what it is? a Corona beer with a sour note.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The Beer Thread

Would you pay $23 to drink a "vintage" bottle Thomas Hardy Ale, bottled in 1992?

In the snifter, it’s a deep, viscous amber. The smell is strong: caramel and molasses, maybe a little apple. I take a swig, and, despite my utter ignorance, I’m immediately sold. Not to say that the stuff isn’t strange. For starters, it’s thick and syrupy. There’s no fizz. And it’s nearly as rich as sherry. But the flavors—nuts, oak, pear, butterscotch—are so nuanced, so balanced and so robust, for a fleeting moment I feel as if I’m sipping the sun-dappled autumn afternoons of my childhood. Only with slightly more alcohol.

I knew I should have kept that can of Coors from 1970!

Miulang

[Pomai]

Re: The Beer Thread

If you haven't heard already, The YardHouse Restaurant just opened up this past Sunday and they have 128 beers on tap!!!!, and it's awesome. I went to both nights of their preview party and would have bought the beer if it wasn't already free. Plus they have good food to go with it. It's in the Waikiki boardwalk, real close to the Halekulani. Check it out!

We tried Yardhouse for the first time this weekend. The "tap island" is awesome...


I'm guessing this amazing assembly of liquid resources is at least 25 ft. long and wraps around TWO sides (the end of the front side shown). Notice every tap is a different beer, no duplicates. Over 120 different beers on tap, total. Wow.

Plus they have 42" LCD flatscreen TVs throughout the establishment, so there's always something to watch (besides the attractive crowd that was there).

There's bar seating around the centrally-located "tap island" (I made that name up), plus dining room table seating surrounding that. The lighting isn't too dark or too bright. Just right.

You know this place is serious when the blueprint includes built-in wall plumbing just for the beer taps...


That's insane. I think each of those pipes include multiple lines of individual beer feeds. They must have "Keg masters" (Primo Menehunes) who work behind that wall to keep the gold flowing.

I missed the grinds that were ordered, but my girlfriend and company spoke highly of their appetizers, which included Grilled BBQ Korean Beef, Tuna Rolls and Crab Cakes.

My German roots had me trying a pint glass of Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse, which was interesting with hints of fruit and spice to it. Medium head that settles into a smooth, texture with a slightly sweet and wheaty flavor.

It's going to take many visits to try everything this place offers (good excuse).

As serious as this place is about their beer, they're also serious about their food, as you can see by this fully-staffed kitchen, which is separated from the dining area by a glass window...



There wasn't any live music at the time, which I'm sure would pack even more of a crowd than it already was. I'd say it was 80% tourists and the rest locals . Standing room only, packed by the time we left.

Yardhouse is one of the larger tenants so far to open at the new (and very impressive) Outrigger Waikiki Beach Walk development. I predict they're going to be very successful. On your next visit to Waikiki, check it out.

www.Yardhouse.com/Hawaii

[Kelly0040]

Re: The Beer Thread

This isnt necessarily beer related, but it's Yardhouse related, so if it has to get moved to another thread, no biggie.

Don't forget your ID if you go. We saw several grown adults (as in, not even close to looking younger than 30) get turned away. Dunno who doesn't carry an ID, but anyway... I get carded all the time and it's usually just me who does, but my husband never does (he's pushin 40) and he and his friend (over 40) were both carded. So, clearly they wish to keep their license!

I've been twice (the past two weekends). The first weekend we had really poor service (took 15 minutes from the time we ordered to get our first beer, 25 minutes to get our second one...we weren't gonna wait for a third). I had the Crispy Ahi Salad, which was colorful and had your basic restaurant "asian" dressing with some nice seared ahi, however, it came with a purple plastic-covered wirey twist tie (like the kind that twist around a baggie...except it was purple like the cabbage in the salad) and I'm thankful it didnt cut my gums with it. Right as I pulled it out of my mouth, a hostess walked by and I think her eyes were bugged out as much as mine. They did apologize and all, but it's the first time anything like that has ever happened to me.

Went again last week to mainly drink beer and appetizers with a friend who was visiting and we sat at the bar. Much quicker service, obviously. They wouldn't leave us alone to drink tho - they probably asked us about ordering food every 2 minutes and no matter what we said, they kept comin' back. It really got annoying that we couldnt just sit there and enjoy our beer and conversation. One bartender kept trying to butt into our conversation and that was more annoying than asking us about food. It was like he was practicing how to talk to strangers, but he failed to have any real contribution to the conversation.

So, eventually we sat down at a table. Our service was better than the prior week. Beer only took like 5 minutes to get to us (which was very reasonable imo). The server didn't pressure us to order food, thank god, but he had no problems telling us how good he thought he was at his job .

We eventually ordered food. Our appetizers came out all right. The French Onion Soup came out looking yummy, but it's no better than what you can make at home with a pouch of soup mix and an onion; if you like onions tho, this thing is like an onion stew with two inches of onions. But, I ate most of it nonetheless and was content. The boys got the Onion Ring Tower. We had fun with the Rosemary twig that came with it. I've seen better onion rings, but these were satisfactory and there were a lottttttt.

But, somehow, our medium steak sandwich and hamburgers ended up being beyond well done and we weren't gonna bother sending them back because we weren't that hungry by the time they came. We took them home in boxes, which the server labeled and dated.

Welp, about 4 hours later, the boys started getting bad stomach cramps. Next thing I knew, my husband was puking and his friend was sitting on the toilet. Both were sick all night long and then some (which was really bad because our friend was supposed to fly home that morning - he didn't). I've never had food poisoning let alone seen anyone with it. This is not something I ever want to go through again.

We came to the conclusion that the reason I didn't get sick was because I didn't eat the onion rings, the accompanied dips or bites of a hamburger (and no, we weren't even close to drunk).

I dont think we're not gonna go back for a third weekend.

Also, there are duplicate taps on the "island" - like there's more than one Guinness tap and other popular beers.

[Pomai]

Re: The Beer Thread

It really got annoying that we couldnt just sit there and enjoy our beer and conversation. One bartender kept trying to butt into our conversation and that was more annoying than asking us about food.

never had that problem at all on our (several) visits. Too busy for them to do (or need to do) that. The excessively loud, overplayed rock music was more annoying than anything else. We had to talk over that, which at times makes the place a yell-fest.

The boys got the Onion Ring Tower. We had fun with the Rosemary twig that came with it. I've seen better onion rings, but these were satisfactory and there were a lottttttt.

We ordered that. Here's it is...


ONION RING TOWER
beer battered and dusted with parmesan cheese,
served with chipotle and ranch dipping sauces 7.85

These have more of a Fish 'N' Chips style "beer batter" than the usual bread crumbs or panko style you see at most places. Nice! I preferred the Chipotle sauce more. Both were thinned more than they should have been but still worked out well. They're stacked on this steal rod "tower" platform. Most impressive were how SWEET the onions were. They had to have been either Maui or Vidalia. This WILL be something I'll order again!

Welp, about 4 hours later, the boys started getting bad stomach cramps. Next thing I knew, my husband was puking and his friend was sitting on the toilet.

We came to the conclusion that the reason I didn't get sick was because I didn't eat the onion rings, the accompanied dips or bites of a hamburger.

Sorry to hear that. None of us experienced any such problems.

------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday in Star Bulletin's HI LIFE entertainment insert, Jason Genegabus featureed an article on Yard House that has lots of interesting FAQ's about the place...

Brewing Up Excellence

This part I find the most intriguing...

BACK IN the keg room, Faas points out some of the technological aspects of beer distribution that the casual observer might overlook.

"We have several ways of ensuring the quality of our beer," he says while motioning toward a number of small black boxes connected to the kegs. "There are ultrasonic sound waves that actually go through the lines and keep them clean.

"A lot of times, you have minerals in the water and the beer that causes buildup in the lines. These make sure that doesn't happen, so everything stays clean."

Nice! They need this type of system installed in the plumbing for Ewa Beach residents.

[cynsaligia]

Re: The Beer Thread

yesterday, the beau, a friend of ours, and i went to the willows for the monthly hops and grinds event. this month's theme was "around the world in 80 beers" and the all you can eat pupu was irish lamb stew, nathan's hot dog's with all the trimmings plus a roasted red pepper chili, tako poke, ahi poke, and crab poke, as well as sausage and cabbage, and crudites.

here are a few of my favorites of the beers we tried, with a bit of description from the pamphlet they handed out at the event:

pilsner urquell (czech republic): translated, "pilsner from the original source." if i remember from watching the show "three sheets," the czech repub is where pilsner style was invented. very clean, hoppy taste.

bison chocolate stout (california): this dry stout has a boost of bitter and flavor from the addition of dutch cocoa in the mash. you can really taste the chocolate in this one.

biere de bocanier red ale (belgium) refermented in the bottle and keg, this beer has a full fruit candy flavor and dry hoppy-ness. this one was big and fruity, but definitely not "sweet."

carlsberg pilsner (denmark): bottom fermented lager with the flavor of hops, grains, pine needles, sorrel and danish summer apples. this was fruity, but in a different way than the belgian beer, and lighter, too.

rogue ales mocha porter (oregon): ruddy brown in color,with a bittersweet balance of malt and hops with a light cream finish. aaaah...a beautiful marriage of really good coffee flavor but in beer!

[Pomai]

Re: The Beer Thread

According to this story, it looks like PRIMO BEER will be making a comeback (again)...

Primo Brewing & Malting Co., a division of Pabst Brewing Co., is bringing the beer back to the Islands with the help of a Kaua‘i brewer. Keoki Brewing Co. in Lihu‘e will produce approximately 200 kegs of Primo draft each month. The beer will be available in about 25 select bars and restaurants mid-month.

Perhaps that can be a feature brew on Kauai-bound SuperFerry trips! lol

While it goes on to say they won't be using the original recipe, they WILL be using the original logo, thank goodness. That's a classic. See this Star Bulletin story published yesterday for a photo of it.

What I remember most about PRIMO BEER was the crochet yarn handbags and visors da' aunties used to make out of the cans.

[oggboy]

Re: The Beer Thread

Primo beer coming back, oh boy I betta go book my Super Ferry ticket. Oh, try wait they not goin Kauai yet!!! Oh well guess gotta go budlight...

[tptpgogogo]

Re: The Beer Thread

Hrmmm beer.

When I was younger (25 soon) I used to be a dedicated green bottle lover, but as I explore my options I've grown (or vice versa) to not liking Heinekins (!) I've been trying to avoid a beer belly so I started drinking Michelob Ultra on a regular basis. Once in a while I'll drink Newcastle (hrmm...full of flavors) and sometimes Rolling Rock or Sam Adams. My ultimate favorite? Carlsberg.

Since you guys were talking about The Yard House, my favorite beer there is probably the Lost Coast Great White. Dang I love that beer.

[sinjin]

Re: The Beer Thread

...my favorite beer there is probably the Lost Coast Great White. Dang I love that beer.

My favorite as well while living in NoCal.

[cynsaligia]

Re: The Beer Thread

several nights ago, eric and i had dinner at mcmenamin's highland pub. we shared the brewmaster's salad, which is made with a ruby ale vinagrette, and the cheesesteak sandwich with fries. we also shared the beer sampler (pictured below). it came with the ruby ale (raspberry ale), hammerhead ale (american style pale ale), india pale ale, porter (coffee & chocolate flavors), terminator stout (dark & yummy and 7% alcohol, IIRC), and seasonal madness (forgot to ask what it was, but it was good!). we enjoyed the porter so much that we ordered a glass and drank it whilst we savored the chocolate porter torte, which itself was dense and creamy in all the best of good-cake-y ways.

apologies--we didn't think to take a pic of the sampler until we had drunk almost all of it. it would have made a beautiful tableu, what with the colors of the beers going from lightly tawny-ruby all the way to dark as black coffee.

[cynsaligia]

Re: The Beer Thread

three nights ago, eric and i had dinner at a portland, oregon english-style pub owned by one of the city's beer patricians, don younger. it's called the horse brass pub.

here's the food we ate:

scotch egg--boiled egg wrapped in pork sausage, then deep fried. served with hot sweet mustard, chips and a very good pickle. this was like the protein-y, british version of a musubi (in that it's portable), and as gross and bad for you as it sounds, it was delicious! i'm gonna try to make this sometime. note about the pic of the scotch egg below--the beer on the left is the black cherry stout; beer on the right is the hazed and infused.

fish and chips with slaw. the fish was halibut, and the fish portions were like six inches long and about three inches in girth. the chips were steak fries. slaw was the best i've ever had. the fish sticks were themselves the second best i've ever had--the absolute best being the fish and chips meal at quinn's by the sea in kona. still, the horse brass pub's version was very good, and from what we saw, the most ordered dish in the pub.

steak & kidney pie--a pie of lamb meat & kidney, served with more slaw. the pie was so savory and hearty! i somehow managed not to taste any of the kidney; i think eric squirreled them away from me. ah! everytime i took a bite of this dish, i was so happy.

the beers we drank (descriptions are from the horse brass pub website unless otherwise indicated):

Winter Warmer- Siletz Brewing, Siletz, OR: Siletz winter seasonal, brewed to keep you warm in the cold winter months. An amber ale with hints of dried fruits and chestnuts and a clean, dry, citric tartness in the finish. 6% ABV

Hazed & Infused Dry Hopped Ale- Boulder Brewing, Boulder, CO: “Hazed” in its natural unfiltered state. “Infused”, dry hopped with Crystal and Centennial hops. This is a big, bold unique ale. 4.85% ABV (our publican told us that this was younger's second favorite beer)

amber, full sail brewery (oregon) anyone remember the grocery store cooler back before it turned into a kaleidoscopic fantasy world of beer options? You pretty much had two choices: Regular or Light. In 1989, when we brewed our first batch of Full Sail Amber, not only was it the first Amber ale here in Beer Mecca (aka Oregon) -- it was the first craft beer to go into a bottle. And two things became immediately apparent. It wasn’t Regular and it sure as heck wasn’t Light. Our Amber is a sweet, malty, medium-bodied ale with a spicy, floral hop finish. It’s brewed with 2-row Pale, Crystal and Chocolate malts. And we hop it with Mt. Hoods and Cascades. We’re as proud of it today as we were back in ’89. And over the years it’s earned eight Gold Medals at the World Beer Championships. Not that we’re keeping track or anything. (description from full sail's website)

Black Cherry Stout - walking man brewery, stevenson washington ABV 7.2% IBU 35: Our stout combined with the richness of dark cherries. Chocolate and cherries – a perfect match. NW Brewing News Readers Choice Award: Best NW Fruit Beer (description from walking man's site)

if you get a chance to come to portland, i highly recommend the horse brass, and i suggest you sit at the bar. they may not have 100+ beers on tap, but what they do have is very good. some of their beers are "core," meaning they always have them; others are brought in for the season. keep in mind, cigars and cigarettes are welcome in the establishment. the two times we went (the first being a couple years ago), we didn't find it overbearingly smoky, though. in fact, i kinda miss being able to enjoy a cigar in a bar occasionally. additionally, the crowd is very mixed. to eric's right, a couple of girls, obviously regulars, chatted with us until they moved on to their next bar or club. to my left, at one point, was a working-man-type guy in his fifties who mostly quietly ate his bangers and chips while he downed his two beers. later that night, a college kid chatted away with another bartender as he scribbled furiously away in his steno book--clearly, an aspiring writer. the food runner was your spectacled geek wearing a classic black with white print star trek shirt. the waitress looked a little like a tamer type of suicide girl. not far off, i spotted a man in his sixties, well-kempt, white-haired & cosmopolitan in his jeans and leather jacket, smoking a cigar. near him, a family with kids in their very late teens or early twenties dined. eric and i love this bar and wish we had the time to go again before we fly home. definitely, this bar will be a must do everytime we come visit my mom. the atmosphere is great and the service, while rumored to be spotty, has always been warm and prompt for us.

[opihipickerz]

Re: The Beer Thread

Happy New Year